Zimbabwe special: the fall of the house of Mugabe

Editor's note

Robert and Grace Mugabe, the feared and friendless stewards of a broken economy, appear to have met their political end at last. So how did it happen?

Stephen Chan recounts how the Mugabes squandered goodwill with years of catastrophic mismanagement and an iron-fisted political style. It was the sudden move against Emmerson Mnanagwa, the vice-president, that broke the dam – an attempt to clear the way for a Grace Mugabe presidency, something few in Zimbabwe wanted to see. But few in the country are celebrating just yet.

The Mugabes’ downfall leaves Mnangagwa in pole position to be the country’s next leader. And as Hazel Cameron explains, he is far from a fresh start. A veteran of Mugabe’s violent government who oversaw some of the country’s worst post-independence atrocities, he may just be the next tyrant to govern a country in dire need of something new.

Andrew Naughtie

International Editor

EPA/Aaron Ufumeli

The house of Mugabe crumbles – but it's too soon to celebrate in Zimbabwe

Stephen Chan, SOAS, University of London

With their cavalier power plays and gross economic negligence, the Mugabes squandered the goodwill of crucial backers.

Why a Mnangagwa presidency would not be a new beginning for Zimbabwe

Hazel Cameron, University of St Andrews

The outside powers jockeying for influence in Zimbabwe want Emmerson Mnangagwa to take the reins, at least temporarily. Why?

Latin American history suggests Zimbabwe's military coup will turn violent

Rut Diamint, Torcuato di Tella University

Some observers think Mugabe's overthrow by the Army might be a good thing for Zimbabwe. An Argentinean expert on Latin America's bloody military dictatorships disagrees.

Mnangagwa and the military may mean more bad news for Zimbabwe

James Hamill, University of Leicester

The coup in Zimbabwe means Mugabe’s long and disastrous presidency is finally over. The questions that remain are the precise details and mechanics of the deal which secures his departure.

After coup, will Zimbabwe see democracy or dictatorship?

Steven Feldstein, Boise State University

Mugabe and his powerful wife have been overthrown in an apparent coup orchestrated by Zimbabwe's vice president. Will the country transition into democracy or get strapped with yet another dictator?

From the archive

Political carnage in Zimbabwe as Grace Mugabe enters the fray

Stephen Chan, SOAS, University of London

The Roman god, Saturn, ate his children, but was overthrown by one who got away. For politicians, the moral of the story is that you have to keep eating them, and hunt down all who might escape. That is…
Zimbabwe’s financial system is living on borrowed time - and borrowed money

Roger Southall, University of the Witwatersrand

Years of political instability and economic mismanagement under the rule of ZANU-PF have left Zimbabwe’s financial system in chaos. The country is living on borrowed time and borrowed money.
Explainer: a tour of Robert Mugabe's early and later legacies

Beverly L. Peters, American University

Outsiders might not understand how someone who led his country’s downfall from breadbasket to basket case has remained in the presidency for so many years
Four decades of underestimating Mugabe: how the British never expected he would win Zimbabwe's 1980 election

Miles Tendi, University of Oxford

British diplomats put their money on the wrong man after the Lancaster House agreement.